Henry stated that the church was subject to the law of the land, but Becket insisted that the Church was above the law. Thomas spent some six years in exile before things calmed down sufficient for him to return to Canterbury.
They reached Canterbury Cathedral on December 29th, where they found Becket before the High Altar, as he had gone there to hear Vespers. One of the knights approached him, and struck Becket on the shoulder with the flat of his sword.
It seems that the knights did not at first intend to kill Becket, but as he stood firm after the first blow, the four attacked and butchered him. As an act of penitence he donned sackcloth and ashes, and starved himself for three days. Becket was immediately hailed as a martyr and canonised in , after which his shrine in Canterbury Cathedral became the most important centre of pilgrimage in England, with relics associated with him distributed to churches throughout Europe.
From there, they travelled to Knaresborough Castle in Yorkshire, where they stayed for about a year. Surprisingly, the knights faced little initial backlash from the king and appear to have been left in peace during their time in Knaresborough. Behind the scenes however, Henry barred their male heirs from inheriting property — a serious blow. To absolve themselves, the knights made their way to the Pope in Rome, who commanded them to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
All four are believed to have died either in Jerusalem or on their way there. William de Tracy left us with a final clue to his whereabouts, a surviving charter dating from to , now in the library and archive of Canterbury Cathedral , issued by him in the Italian city of Cosenza.
Desiring forgiveness for his involvement in the murder, he grants gifts to the monks of Canterbury and asks that they pray for his soul. As for the king, his punishment was light. Afterwards, the Pope absolved Henry of any wrongdoing. In July he was facing the greatest challenge to his authority yet, a civil war brought about by his sons and their mother, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the midst of this war, he finally visited Canterbury and the resting place of his old adversary.
He acknowledged his involvement in the crime and was punished by monks. His men won a decisive battle and his success was widely attributed to the intervention of Saint Thomas of Canterbury. From then on, Henry adopted Becket as his protector. He made numerous gifts to the cathedral and visited it regularly on pilgrimage. In a royal charter, on loan to the exhibition from Canterbury Cathedral, Henry promises to protect the rights of the Canterbury monks in perpetuity.
It came endorsed by his great seal, a magnificent wax image of the king enthroned with sword in one hand and orb in the other. A later genealogy of English kings, on loan from the British Library, shows both men locked in a heated argument. Enthroned on the left, Henry presses a finger emphatically into his open palm while the Archbishop raises a hand in disagreement. Thomas Becket: murder and the making of a saint is open 20 May — 22 August To find out more about the exhibition and to book tickets visit britishmuseum.
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